The Crimson Cafe
by Arbitrary Rayne
Summary: Vampires are evil and they all must die, even himself ... At least thats what Zero used to believe, right up until that day that everything fell apart and things stopped making sense...That day he lost her to those monsters... Drowning his confusion in hunting, he takes a mission that tears down his beliefs even farther. Through he finds a spark of hope in his future.


Chapter One: Just Like The Rest

Zero sat on the floor reclining against his bed, staring off into space thinking. He hated days like this when there were no missions for him to take; on days like this with nothing to distract, him his mind caught up with him. Unpleasant thoughts of the past crept into his head where they reminded him of all the things that did not exist anymore. Only when he had a mission and needed to focus could he force those thoughts to the back of his mind. Each thought cut him a little more, but the searing pain in his chest also reminded him that he was still alive, still able to feel something. Touga entered the room tossing a file at Zero "If this is another mission like that Scarlet, don't count on me doing this one." He said dragging himself from his stupor to glance at the file name.

"Vampire night club in all its tainted grandeur not your thing?"

"It makes me sick just to know that that place even exists and nothing can be done about it."

"Well lucky you, this Crimson Café claims to be a place of armistice, where no harm comes to anyone within its walls."

"I'll believe that when I see it. The school was supposed to be a place of peace to and look how well that worked out."

"You want the mission or not, I could just as easily hand the job to someone else." Zero skimmed over the files information with skepticism.

"It's a waste of time but I've got nothing better to do.," He said as he rose from the floor.

"The place should be opening soon, if you walk you should get there just in time" Zero took the Bloody Rose from under his pillow and hid it in his jacket before exiting the room.

The sun was almost set when he arrived in town; most shops would be serving their last few customers then closing up for the night. As lights in the stores went out the streets were plunged into darkness, except for the circles of light the streetlights provided. In the darkness, Zero could see the bright light from a solitary shop just a few blocks down. He assumed that had to be the Crimson Café.

His thoughts were confirmed when the sign came into view, in the center was a coffee cup with and intricate red symbol on it and above the cup in what could only be described as brush stroke style cursive were the words "Crimson Café".

The café was completely empty except for a girl perched on a bar counter that ran half the length of the room. She was staring at the ceiling in thought, a Laptop resting on her lap. The her fingers tapping rhythmically on the keys just lightly enough to make noise without pushing them in. Her attention immediately went to Zero when the little silver bell above the door jingled. "Welcome to the Crimson Café. can I get you anything?" She said hopping off the counter and straightening out her black apron and abandoning her notebook on the counter to snatch up a menu.

She had a slight frame, but not so much that she looked like a strong wind could knock her over. Her hair was a dark brown that had been highlighted with caramel blond and a dark red black; it was razor cut in layers, the longest of which brushed past her shoulders a bit and curled around to the front to lay around her collarbone. The long bangs that framed her face stopping just at her chin fell slightly over one of her pale blue-green colored eyes .

"Just water would be fine." He said as he sat in one of the booths. She turned for the kitchen returning the unneeded menu to its place. He had just a moment to look around before she returned. Normally cafes around here were nothing more than a hole-in-the-wall but this one had enough space to fit a large crowd comfortably. At the end or the room opposite where he was sitting was a good-sized stage raised a few feet from the floor and in front of it, spread out over the floor of the rest of the café, there were about fifteen three-person tables. The café's color scheme was simple black and white (no grey) everywhere, the only other color was that same red symbol from the sign carved into every tabletop and the counter, as well as made into the shades on the lights over the booths.

The waitress returned just moments after she had left, carrying a ceramic cup. She placed the water on the table in front of Zero. "If there is anything else you need, just call for me. Oh, I'm Keroa by the way." She said turning to walk back to the counter. Zero was about to add a few blood tablets to the water, but stopped when he noticed the pinkish tint of the cup's contents.

"How'd you know?" He asked aloud. Keroa glanced up from her laptop at him.

"Just part of the job." She said with a smile.

_how could a human have figured it out that easily? _

Just then the bell above the door jingled as it opened. A guy of average sized height and weight, with chocolate brown hair and grey eyes walked in carrying a Starbucks cup.

"Hey Aiashi, kind of late, don't you think?"

_Aiashi? The vampire hunter? I thought he died on a mission. No, the report was wrong; that's him. What the hell is going on?_

"Would have been here earlier, but I stopped to get you that frapechino." Her eyes lit up as he handed her the cup.

"Yum! Thanks I own you one."

"I don't see why you just don't learn how to make your own, this is a café."

"I tried," She said taking a drink. "Tasted like dirt."

"What's that say about this place then…" He said with a smirk. Keroa glared at him. "Hey where is everyone?" Keroa shrugged.

"I'm not their keeper." She paused then said, "Though I think that Dai said she was going to come in tonight ,doubt it though, and Ryou was supped to come with me."

"You really shouldn't go out alone Kero, Ryou worries, I worry, we all do…"

"Save it Aiashi." She cut him off. "I'm just going to get the same lecture from Ryou when he gets here."

"I guess. You won't listen either way." there was a slight pause then he spoke again "So Kyo and Dai are back from Europe?"

"uh…yeah, their plane landed…" Keroa whipped her head around to look at the clock on the wall behind her. The momentum of the movement and the angle at which she was looking caused her hair that had been laying over her right shoulder to fall behind her, revealing a set of fresh fang marks on her neck. "About two-three hours ago." She turned back around, her hair swinging back in place and hiding the marks again.

_She's been bitten recently. Was it an attack? No there's no way a human would be so trusting around a vampire if they'd been attacked. Then she must be …_

The loud roar of a motorcycle cut through the quiet of the café tearing Zero from his thoughts. "Speak of the devil…" Said Keroa with a slight smirk.

"A little off cue though." Aiashi said

"What are you talking about?" Keroa laughed "This is early for him."

The noise of the engine shut off and moments later the little silver bell over the door ran alerting everyone of the man now standing in the door.

_VAMPIRE! _

He was tall with a similar build to Zero. From his messy jet black hair and stormy gun-metal colored eyes to the way he held himself every thing about this guy could only be described as dark and wild. A look of relief washed away the one of anxiousness he wore at the sight of Keroa. He crossed the room to capture Keroa 's mouth with his before moving around to the other side of the counter to take a black apron like Keroa's from a shelf behind the bar and throwing it on. Keroa looked absolutely disappointed by the break in contact. He leaned over the counter, resting his elbows on the bar top and his chin in his hand. "You shouldn't have come here by yourself." He said quietly to her.

"Well I wouldn't have if everyone wasn't gone or complaining of dyeing from a cold, I couldn't stand the whining."

"Your just as bad as they are… and I told you I'd be back in an hour, you couldn't have waited?"

"Nope, the café opens at sunset, no sooner, no later."

"If that's your priority, fine. But knowing where you are and that your safe, that's mine. Loosing you is the only thing I've ever been afraid of."

"I'm sorry I worried you."

They continued to talk quietly for a bit, until Aiashi decided he needed to smoke. Keroa 's voice easily rose about four octaves when she broke away from her conversation to yell at him. "I swear to god, don't you dare light that in here! You want to kill yourself be my guest, but you go outside so no one else has to go down with you!"

The sudden loudness drug Zero from ploting of the council's downfall to the other hunter and the waitress. " I don't see any 'NO SMOKING' signs around here, do you Ryou?" Aiashi glanced around the café, his eyes catching with Zero's and made a slight gesture that he wanted him to follow him outside. But rather that waiting Zero went outside standing just out of site of the front windows.

"Leave me out of this Aiashi." Ryou said backing away to lean against the wall.

"Its kind of a given, you don't smoke in public places if for no other reason than its inconsiderate, and you scared our first customer away, thanks a lot." Keroa fumed.

"I'm not going to take credit for something you did, it was clearly your yelling that caused him to leave, and two more customers are coming this way now so chill."

"I am chill." She pouted as the two customers Aiashi was talking about entered just before he left.

"Long time no see Kiryuu." Aiashi said as soon as he was out of sight of the café.

"What the hell is going on around here Yirumoto? The Association reported you dead a few years ago, but here you are in a vampire café talking to one of them like you don't know he's a fucking vampire and that the girl doesn't have a fucking bite mark on her neck!"

" I'm going to let you in on a secret the association doesn't want anyone else to know…I was put on this mission two years ago almost three, my only task was to evaluate the threat level of four new vampires in the area. Ryou, Tokono, Raiden, and Kyo. Ryou was Registered as a Level A turns out he is really a Level D raised by pure bloods as their son. Tokono is a Level B, and the other two are Level C. that was the only information I was given about this mission, other than that last bit about Ryou, I had to find that out on my own. The first few weeks of the mission I could hardly tell they were vampires, they acted like any normal teenagers, I was about to report to the association that they had nothing to worry about from them…then I noticed Ryou was starting to go missing for most of the day just about everyday. So I followed. Everyday he went to a human hospital."

"Raiding the blood bank?" Zero offered

"That's what I thought, then I slipped up one day and he caught me following…

_**Flashback**_

_Aiashi quickly dashed into an alleyway not far behind Ryou. They were just five minutes from the hospital the vampire visited each day. In his head Aiashi was devising a plan to figure out just what the vampires business was with this hospital. Distracted by his plans his foot connected with a discarded soda can sending the small piece of aluminum flying and clanging loudly off the stone walls to either side of him. Aiashi quickly dove behind a dumpster to avoid the now cautious eyes surveying the place he had just been moments ago._

_Feeling that the coast was clear Aiashi crept out from his hiding place cursing himself that he'd lost sight of his target. He dashed down the remainder of the alleyway out on to the street. He looked around but Ryou was nowhere to be found. Aiashi failed to stifle a gasp as a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and jerked him back into the shadow of the alley than forced him against the wall roughly. "Why have you been following us?" Ryou asked in a deadly tone. Never before had a vampire managed to get the drop on him like that and now he was trapped and in such a way that he couldn't reach his gun. Aiashi managed to keep the slight fear he felt out of his voice when he spoke._

"T_he association sent me to check on the new vampires in town." Aiashi answered._

"W_e've done nothing to warrant the association's suspicions, we aren't here to cause trouble." He responded._

"T_hat was until you began making a regular trip to the hospital…so tell me…what is it that brings you there? Are you robbing the blood bank? …but then there's no need when you can just go to your own…" Aiashi stopped mid-sentence when Ryou suddenly released his hold on the hunter and stepped back to lean against the opposite wall. He look away at the thin line of street visible through the buildings in the direction he had previously been traveling._

"I_f you must know hunter… there is someone… I visit there."_

"S_how me." Aiashi demanded, confident now that they were on equal ground._

"F_ine, if it'll get the Association to leave us alone…follow me."_

_Aiashi followed Ryou on his usual path to the hospital. The vampire stopped at the front desk to sign in as a visitor. " Good morning Mr. Ryou," Said the receptionist, having memorized his name from his regular daily visits. "It's very good that you're here today, she just woke up earlier this morning, she hasn't said much, the doctors are hoping she'll respond more to you. It's the same room as always."_

"T_hank you." He said and began making his way to the room._

"T_his girl… how do you know her?" Aiashi asked, as they boarded the elevator. His curiosity sparked after hearing the receptionist talk to the vampire like he was some sort of hero._

"_I don't … I found her." Ryou gave him a response that would answer nothing and raise many more questions. Aiashi was about to ask more question but hey had stopped in front of a door. Ryou turned to the Hunter and gave him a chilling look. "I don't want to hear a word out of you. She finally woke up, so she's probably frightened, and confused, don't add to it." with that Ryou quietly opened the door, and Aiashi could see a human girl lying in bed. She was hooked to machines and bandaged up quite a bit…_

**Authors Note :**

**Ok so how was that so far? Yes I know it's a little slow…or a lot slow but I assure you that if I wrote it, it is of the utmost importance to the story. Everything has a purpose. even the seemingly useless OCs and their random banter has a point, not that I'll tell you what it is until later. (it will ruin my fun if I do.)**

**If your confused about the whole "Vampire Level/Ranks" thing…here's how I see it…**

**Level A ****: Pure Bloods - not a drop of human blood in their line (only ones that can make vampires) very powerful.**

**Level B ****: Noble Vampires - most likely born from a pure blood and another vampire (can have special powers)**

**Level C**** : Common Vampires - defiantly born a vampire and has little to no pure blood ancestry, probably has a human parent.**

**Level D ****: Turned Vampires - humans turned vampires (likely to fall into Level E state unless given the blood of their creator)**

**Level E ****: Feral Vampires - without the blood of their creator a Level D will become a wild and uncontrollable monster that has lost all of its humanity to bloodlust. Blood tablets and willingly given human blood can prolong falling to this state but only for a while.**

**Anyway please review I would love to hear your thoughts both positive and negative. I appreciate constructive criticism and am always happy to take it into account. **

**-AR**


End file.
